A groundbreaking study by Beekman 1802, Traackr, and kindness.org explores how beauty influencers impact Gen Z and their mental health, revealing how influencer values shape follower well-being and engagement.
In partnership with Beekman 1802, a top goat milk skincare brand known for its kindness ethos, and Traackr, an influencer marketing platform, kindness.org conducted a groundbreaking study. The nonprofit, which educates and inspires people to choose kindness, examined the role of kindness among beauty influencers. The study highlighted how beauty influencers impact Gen Z and their mental health. Additionally, it analysed how they contribute to and take responsibility for their followers’ mental health.
Gen Z is considering influencers’ values just as much as their product recommendations, with over 60% feeling that influencers’ posts influence their daily decisions. Values like kindness are significant, and 61% of Gen Z would unfollow an influencer if they say or do something that contradicts their own values.
The findings reveal that beauty influencers recognise the beauty industry’s social content is largely negative for mental health. However, they acknowledge their content impacts their followers’ mental health, with kinder influencers having more followers.
“Social media is a dominant part of our daily lives. As a company that believes Kindness is a preventative health measure, we want to make sure that the content we put out and promote on social platforms contributes in a positive way to the well-being of all of those who may see it.” – Dr. Brent Ridge, Co-founder & Chief Kindness Officer of Beekman 1802
The key results
The study also measured the connection between beauty influencers, social media, and kindness. It was found that influencers who scored higher in agreeableness, a personality trait linked to kindness, had more followers across social media platforms. Key results include:
– Only 37% of beauty influencers felt the overall social content in the beauty industry positively impacts young people’s mental health.
– However, 78% of beauty influencers acknowledge their own content influences their followers’ mental health.
– Influencers with a more agreeable personality, characterised by kindness, compassion, respect, compromise, cooperation, as well as trust, had higher follower counts.
As leaders in the science of kindness, Beekman 1802 will further use this study to enhance their positive impact in the beauty industry’s social sphere. They plan to leverage the findings to actively recruit brand ambassadors with high kindness scores into their community, the Kindness Krew.
“We at kindness.org are focused on answering meaningful questions about kindness and its role in our everyday lives, all with an eye toward creating measurable change toward a kinder world. By starting to look at the relationship kindness and influencers have on content and well-being, we are starting an important conversation that sets the stage for the future of influencers and the relationship with their followers.” – Jaclyn Lindsey, Co-founder & CEO of kindness.org